Grade: C+ | "Return of the Mac's" opening cut "The Mac is Back Intro" announces that this is a stronger, more refined recording than the flabby "Blood Money" released by Mobb Deep a year ago. Throughout the "Return of the Mac" album, sexy ‘70s-style...

Grade: D | It's been three years since pop-punk group Good Charlotte has "graced" us all with its presence… and it turns out three years was no where near long enough. Good Charlotte is generally known and referred to as one of the biggest jokes to...

Grade: B | The third LP from The Ponys finds the Chicago band following the same formula as its previous releases, proving the band is… well… somewhat of a one-trick pony. The foursome is very good at front-loading its records with vibrant, neo-glam...

Originally hailing from the Naperville/Downers Grove area, Starter Kit offers unique music with a punk and hard rock feel. The band began with drummer Chris Javorski, guitarist/backup vocalist Emo Manuel and guitarist Ryan Aquino. They filtered through...

Grade: A | On the morning of September 11, 2001, Charlie Fineman's (Adam Sandler) family was taken from him. Six years later, he remains a lost and broken man. He has withdrawn both from society and from himself by blocking out memories that remind him...

Grade: D+ | Search for plot keywords of director Antoine Fuqua's films on IMDB and you'll get these: "shot-in-the-chest," "shot-to-death," "helicopter," "machine gun," "attempted rape," "betrayal," "blood splatter" and "death." In so many words, that...

Grade: C | The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have returned to the big screen with their most recent animated feature, "TMNT," which, for many, will be a nostalgic return to childhood. Many college students today were once the perfect age to enjoy the three...

Chicago-based art-rockers Unique Chique will invade The House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, Thursday. The band lists Radiohead, Rainer Maria, U2, Hum and American Football as primary influences, but they also combine the best elements of groups like Sonic...

There are few things that make me want to simultaneously laugh and vomit uncontrollably the way modern marketing gimmicks do. The general public's unflinching acceptance of said gimmicks tops the list. The endless stream of lies, manipulation and sensory...

Grade: B | Andrew Bird's latest release is a collection of surprisingly catchy songs disguised by a gritty, lo-fi production and Depeche Mode-like vocal harmonies. The 12 songs vary between sophisticated garage rock, exotic pop melodies, spaced-out shuffles...

Grade: B+ | The biggest surprise of Modest Mouse's breakthrough success is not that it came a decade into the group's career, nor is it that a conglomerate like Epic Records stuck by the Washington natives despite poor sales of the band's label debut...

Grade: B+ | Ted Leo has never been short on anything - not on his overtly political views that work their way into every track, not on his flowing vocals that might be the most expressive in contemporary rock'n'roll, and unfortunately not on his tracks'...